Here are 3 terrific school library websites I reviewed...

St. Andrew's Episcopal Upper School (Austin, TX)
To begin with, I love the uncluttered appearance of this website and how easily I was able to get around.
The following is a list of a few features I really appreciated and would love to add to my own site.

• When the site opens, there is a Banned Books reading promotion mentioned, so it was great to see this timely reading promotion mentioned.
• I liked how the Big 6 model is being used for the research organizer tab.
• Copyright guidelines tab describes copyright laws in a student-friendly manner and would benefit staff too.
• Website evaluation page has a template in place and ready-made lesson. Well done.
• Homework help tab is a super idea and something I would like to add to my own website.
• Links provided to many other library websites to give students even more access to useful information.

Newton North High School, ( Newton, MA)
This one caught my eye when I saw the term "learning commons" incorporated into the library's homepage. After focusing so much learning commons in summer courses, I thought it would be good to see if this site really meets the virtual library criteria. I believe it does. What did I like?

• The opening page has a student poll asking for student input. I could use a poll for a variety of reasons!
• There is an RSS feed scrolling on the page to give students local, national and world news at their fingertips.
• Databases are prominently displayed on the screen and in such a way to that students immediately know what that databases' purpose is.
• Pathfinders tab is at the top under "today" tab. While I loved the detailed pathfinders given, I do think the pathfinders really belonged under research tab, not "today" tab.
• Ask tab has the library policies posted. Great idea!
• Presentation tools tab is another great idea, but the list was a bit weak.
• Overall, the site does a nice job of giving students a true virtual library.

Westlake High School, (Austin, TX)
Again, yet another uncluttered, clean display made this website appealing to me. Some of the positives were:

• Site is operated from edublogs - something I had not considered!
• Tabs at the top included one for e-books and book lists. Mine are are on Destiny Quest, but a separate tab like this would make sense.
• Teacher projects tab would make it easy for students to locate their teacher's assignment rather than fighting their way through the high school's website to find their teacher's page.
• RSS news feed and student surveys appear on homepage.
• Librarians show their photos on the site - good idea since it makes the site seem more personal.
• This high school has its own flicker images site.
• Liked the blog articles posted, but they should be updated more regularly.